Henrik Lundqvist is no stranger to the Washington Capitals in the playoffs. The two sides faced each other last year as well as in 2009 and while the memo for the Caps in 2009 was to shoot high glove side to beat Lundqvist, Washington’s plan of attack this time around is taking a similar tone.

“You look at him and you think, ‘Geez, he plays pretty deep, you should be able to pick his pocket,’” Capitals associate goalie coach Olie Kolzig said. “But his angles are so good and he plays so wide. You’ve got to beat him with a good shot, a good high shot.”

Going high is dangerous because not putting the shot on the net can cause things to spin out of control the other way. With the kind of traffic the Caps want to create in front of the net, missing a shot high also means not having rebounds to clean up. The Rangers aren’t really ones to give up clean looks at the goal, but when Washington’s had a clear lane they’ve done well.

One thing is for sure, if going high is Lundqvist’s weakness, repeating how 2009 went down is not something he wants to go through.

The Blues said the same thing about Quicker the last couple of games – they had to shoot high to score. They tried. Most players just try to get it on net. Sometimes when you are trying to do something even slightly different than what comes natureal it makes you think for a split second before you do it. That minor hesitation can make all the difference. Perhaps over time it will become more natural just to shoot high more. One thing is for sure. There are a lot of good young goaltenders in the NHL now. It is so fun to watch them all.